Thursday, November 27, 2008

Threenagers are 30+ ers who earn a good living but live like teenagers, spending their money on the newest trends like iPhone. They are not interested in living together and raising children. They would rather go out to parties and live life to the full.

There will be a Christmas & Arts Market (Kunst - Kerstmarkt) in Domein Bovy on Saturday 29, Sunday 30 November then again Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 December from 12 noon - 18.00.

Domein Bovy is a charming cobbled-stoned area with cafés, a large children's playground, a rose garden, some animals to visit, fishing lakes and marked walking routes including Kabouterbos, the trail of Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. If you have young children, please take them if you want to hear squeals of delight.

The Christmas market was delightful last time round.

Whilst there, I recommend a visit to De Pannekoekenbakker, a Dutch pancakes house with over 250 ways of serving pancakes. Lekker!

Domein Bovy is in Galgeneinde 22, Bolderberg, Heusden-Zolder, Limburg. Exit 27 Zolder Terlaemen from E314. Free entrance. Hotel on site or other choices in the village.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To increase your running comfort during the 10 Miles....

In 2008, 15,000 runners took part in the 10 Miles. To increase the comfort during the run, some changes have been made for 2009:

- "hourglass start": the wide starting strip right in front of the starting line is being made more narrow. This 'hourglass start' will reduce the density on the course and create more room for runners. - starting position based on estimated finishing time: the start will be sub-divided into different time zones. Runners will be asked to voluntarily start from the zone designated for their estimated finishing times. - modified course: the part of the course through downtown is being changed to make it possible to get through it more smoothly. The new course layout will be available soon on the website. - results based on net time: From 2009 on, results will be calculated based on net time. That means that it will no longer be necessary to push through or to stand at the front.

Time limit for the ING Antwerp Marathon extended to 6 hours

From 2009 on, the time limit for the ING Antwerp Marathon will be six hours. It had been five hours in previous years. In conjunction with the City of Antwerp, the organisers are making this change to make the marathon more accessible to more people, and to make it possible for 10 Miles runners to move up to the marathon distance. The 2,000 runner who took part in the ING Antwerp Marathon in 2008 made it the largest marathon in the country.

Slight time-shift in the programme

With the time limit of the marathon being extended to six hours, the start of the marathon is being moved up by half an hour and the start for the 10 Miles is being moved back, also by half an hour.

You can already sign up for all events of the 10 Miles & Marathon 2009 (except for the relay marathon) now at www.ingantwerp10miles.be.

Companies, groups and clubs can also download the group registration form from the website. Just like last year, there is a companies' class for the 10 Miles. Will Total be able to retain its title as the fastest company in Antwerp?

According to an article in Het Belang van Limburg, Limburgers are the happiest Belgians. The average happiness rating in Belgium was 7,1 but 7,4 for Limburgers. We complain less about loneliness with a rating of 8,0 against the national 6,9.

In love, Limburgers rate 7,4 against national average 6,9 and complain less about traffic jams. We are more optimistic - 6,9 against 6,3 and all this despite the closing of the mines several years ago and the economic problems of Ford Genk.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

If you need some technical computer work, website design, logo design, transcription, ghost writing, proof reading, translation, travel planning, emails handling, budgeting, patent law or one of many other skills, I strongly recommend the professional freelances listed on Elance.

I just hired someone in Rumania to prepare an opt-in webpage and sales letter. I had the basic documents and graphics but have no clue how to put them together. I set up my own Auto Responder on AWeber so gave him the code for that part, along with the code for the Paypal button. He did everything else and the site is now live and building a mailing list.

You post a description of the work to be done then freelances tender a quote with information on why you should choose them. You can read previous feedback and how much they have earned via Elance. Sometimes new freelances will offer introductory rates while they build up a reputation.

Once you have chosen the person for the task you pre-pay the full amount agreed into an Escrow account. You can pay via Paypal or a credit card. Only once the task is complete to your satisfaction will you release the funds.

So, if like me, PHP, Joomla, My SQL, Drupal et al are complete Chinese to you, or you need someone to help you achieve one of many tasks, just go to Elance.

If you are a freelance offering one of many skills needed by others, you can also register as a provider on the site. Just click on the banner to register:

We all need business cards whether to promote a business, or perhaps to promote a hobby, a club, even just to have a card for giving new friends and contacts our name and telephone number. Much better than looking for a scrap of paper to jot down a phone number!

But professionally printed business cards cost a lot of money, right?

Wrong. Not with Vista Print. They offer 250 FREE business cards on the first order with hundreds of attractive design templates to choose from. You just pay a small delivery charge.

The offer is available in 20 countries including several European countries, USA and Australia. At the top of the site, click on "Select a country" and go to Belgique if you live in Belgium.

VistaPrint don't just print business cards. They offer address labels, self-inking rubber stamps, pens, caps, Tshirts, sticky notes, Christmas cards and calendars (great idea as we prepare for Christmas presents and year end) and business stationery.

Once you order from them, they will even send you special offers on their various products.

Jacques Brel was born 8 April 1929 in Schaarbeek, Brussels, Belgium and died 9 October 1978 (aged 49) in France from lung cancer due to his heavy smoking. Although born to Flemish parents, he mainly sang in French. "Marieke" is the best known exception. This month marks 30 years from his premature death.

"He goes to the limit of his strength because, through his singing, he expresses his reason for living and each line hits you in the face and leaves you dazed." - Edith Piaf

I know there is a huge debate about vaccinating children and the slim chances of a negative reaction. Personally, I think that I have to protect my children and others around them from even the smallest chance of contracting a serious or life-threatening illness. If the norm is to give these vaccinations to millions of children, that must be for a sound scientific reason.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

PABO, the online sex shop, has a great new catalogue with beautiful lingerie, extremely naughty lingerie, sex toys for him & her, DVDs and lots more.

Not only lots of lovely and fun ideas but also a FREE coffee machine when you order online. Supplies are limited so visit PABO today. Request a catalogue or browse online. If you request a catalogue there will be a code to order online and receive your free coffee machine. The offer applies to Pabo sites in 7 countries.

Ignace Schops is the newest Belgian Nobel Prize winner with the Goldman Prize for nature conservation from setting up Belgium's first and only national park, the Nationaal Park Hoge Kempen in Limburg.

This information came from http://www.goldmanprize.org/2008/europe:After years of campaigning, Ignace Schops has led the effort to establish Belgium’s first and only national park. Raising more than US$90 million by bringing together private industry, regional and European Union (EU) government, local stakeholders, and NGOs, Schops has created a new model for land conservation in the EU and beyond.

After Coal, ConservationThe province of Limburg in northeastern Belgium contains large woodlands, extensive pine groves, flowering meadows and many rare and unique animals. Since 1901, when coal was discovered in the region, the amount of open space has dwindled, making way for industrial and community infrastructure to support the population employed by the mines. For almost a century, the coal industry thrived in Limburg, but in 1990, the area’s seven mines closed, leaving 40,000 people unemployed.

The region around the old mines, a highly industrial and densely populated area owned by the government, is adjacent to Hoge Kempen, an area within the province that has retained its natural beauty, despite nearby development. Following the closing of the mines, jobs were badly needed in the region and several corporations wanted to build factories in the Hoge Kempen. However, very few precious open spaces remained in the province and a conflict arose between conservation and development.

In response to pressure from industry, the largest coal company and the largest NGO for nature conservation in Belgium, Natuurpunt, founded Regionaal Landschap Kempen and Maasland (RLKM) in 1990. Their goal was to conserve the land in the province and continue to provide jobs and economic development.

Through his engagement in nature conservation and his field study on herpetology (amphibians & reptiles), Schops began to see that nature conservation and biodiversity could be helped with a different, progressive approach based on enthusiasm and connectivity.

In 1997, Schops and a group of friends began working with RLKM to campaign for permanent protection of a piece of the Limburg landscape through the creation of Belgium’s first national park. They believed that the park could provide jobs and revenue through eco-tourism, as well as conserve open space for the future.

Since beginning his work in conservation in 1990, Schops had built a network of politicians, including mayors, parliament members and ministers who were willing to work with him. For six years, RLKM, Schops and his friends lobbied the government and funded the national park campaign. Under Schops’ leadership, over the next four years, more than US$90 million was raised from sources such as the Flemish government, the European Rural and Regional Development Fund, municipal and provincial development funds, the European Union, local stakeholders and the private sector. Many of the funds he secured were new funding sources for nature conservation and sustainable development which had not yet been utilized. In 2002, the minister of environment agreed to protect the area if a master plan was created and funding was secured. In 2004, Schops became director of RLKM and has spearheaded the final steps to securing the park’s future.

Belgium’s First National ParkIn early 2006, the Hoge Kempen National Park was officially opened by the European Commissioner for Environment. It has become a source of inspiration for environmental protection in Belgium. More than six million people live within one hour’s drive of the park, and since its opening four hundred thousand people have visited. The projected economic revenue generated by the national park after operating for five years is US$48 million per year. The park has created 400 jobs for the local community and has conserved nature and brought economic revenue to the region. Five gateways to the park have been established. Car parks, camp sites and information kiosks are being built, and walking and bike trails have been developed. Souvenir stores and a cafeteria have been completed as well as shops to rent and purchase hiking and bicycling equipment. Additional attractions are planned over the next three years for increasing revenue, while still maintaining free entrance to the park. The first and only national park in Belgium, it contains nearly 6,000 hectares and stretches across six municipalities.

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) plans to use Schops’s model of creating and funding the national park as an example for other member countries, not only in Europe but around the world. His model demonstrates how a successful public-private partnership in the use and management of nature can be an asset for local and regional development. Schops, as the director of RLKM, will oversee the management of the park and its continued development, and other conservation projects in Belgium.

Do you ever forget your online passwords? Do you have favourite passwords which you use for most sites but then a specific site asks for a password with a certain number of letters and numbers so you need a new one which you then can't remember? Do you waste time, even just lots of precious seconds every day trying to remember passwords? Or were you organized, like me, with an 8-page list of passwords? Yes, eight pages!

I've made my life much more simple by downloading RoboForm. It is an unobtrusive helper on your toolbar which remembers all your passwords. Just tell it a password once and it will retrieve it for you in the future. How simple is that? It works on IE, Firefox and AOL/MSN. Also on Windows Mobile and Palm.

Not only does RoboForm remember passwords but it also fills in forms with one click.

RoboForm is recommended by PC Magazine, PC World, the New York Times among others.

In case you are wondering whether you can use the same RoboForm account on your PC as on your laptop or work PC, the answer is "YES" using RoboForm2Go on any USB key or U3 memory stick. I have some U3 sticks from Cruzer which have retractable USB ends so there is no lid to lose. Really handy and very cheap to buy.

You can download Roboform FREE today. Once you start using it, you'll never want to be without this great time-saver.

Amazon in the UK now offer FREE SUPER DELIVERY TO BELGIUM

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I am the leading English Hypnotherapist in Belgium. I chose to leave the Spanish sun for the Belgian clouds as I believe Belgium is a good country in which to live and raise a family. This blog is my attempt to share my enthusiasm for this civilised country.